Reading Blog #2

I have mixed feelings about John Cage's work, as with any other artist who likes to challenge the art world with simple (or some could argue: stupid) art pieces.

While I appreciate that Cage goes by the beat of his drum, sometimes I feel as if he is trying to excuse his (in my opinion) lazy music pieces by trying to build up this huge hidden meaning all in an attempt to gain recognition. While he is one of the first artists to approach music without a harmonic element and using everyday objects, this sort of thing would not fly in the art world today. Because he is the original, I suppose it adds some kind of dynamic message that you can challenge the art world. But I also would have to argue that his work does come across that anyone can create something no matter how simple and stupid and have it become this great art piece because of this supposedly grand and complex message.

I do appreciate that Cage was never in it for the money. That is an aspect that I can get behind with his work. He does whatever he wants to do, and it aggravates people. That is pretty bold, and I would never be able to do what he does. There was a certain point the article mentioned that caught my eye. It says, "Even his most earnest devotees sometimes disappointed him. Carolyn Brown recounts how puzzled she was when, after she had laboriously followed Cage's instructions for one work, he reprimanded her for executing it "improperly." If the idea is to free oneself from conscious will, Brown wondered, how can the composer issue decrees of right and wrong?".

It is funny how Brown completely missed the point of his music-making when she followed Cage's instructions. Cage has no instructions. But what surprised me the most was that he was meticulous to the fact that her execution of the work was too "set up," which I felt was a bit of a double standard. I do understand Cage's purpose and message in his work, but I also do not. I suppose I'll never understand these kinds of artists, but to each their own.